Everything but the kitchen sink: The use of multiple hypothesis generation methods to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis associated with frozen profiteroles and eclairs

• Published in: Epidemiology and infection 2024-09, Vol.152, p.e107, Article e107
• Main Authors: Smith, Courtney R., Taylor, Marsha, Manore, Anna J. W., Hexemer, April, Adhikari, Bijay, Alexander, David, Atkinson, Robin, Chui, Linda, Galanis, Eleni, Gaulin, Colette, Griffin, Meghan, Honish, Lance, Kearney, Ashley, Mah, Victor, McCormick, Rachel, Murti, Michelle
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Canada - epidemiology; Child; Child, Preschool; Disease Outbreaks; Epidemiology; Female; Food contamination; Food Microbiology; Food products; Food safety; Frozen Foods - microbiology; Gene sequencing; Grocery stores; Humans; Hypotheses; Hypothesis testing; Illnesses; Infant; Laboratories; Long term health care; Male; Middle Aged; Nucleotide sequence; Original Paper; Outbreaks; Pathogens; Public health; Questionnaires; Salmonella; Salmonella Enteritidis; Salmonella enteritidis - genetics; Salmonella enteritidis - isolation & purification; Salmonella Food Poisoning - epidemiology; Salmonella Food Poisoning - microbiology; Salmonella Infections - epidemiology; Salmonella Infections - microbiology; Whole Genome Sequencing; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0950-2688; 1469-4409; 1469-4409
• DOI: 10.1017/S0950268824001067

In December 2018, an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections was identified in Canada by whole-genome sequencing (WGS). An investigation was initiated to identify the source of the illnesses, which proved challenging and complex. Microbiological hypothesis generation methods included comparisons of Salmonella isolate sequence data to historical domestic outbreaks and international repositories. Epidemiological hypothesis generation methods included routine case interviews, open-ended centralized re-interviewing, thematic analysis of open-ended interview data, collection of purchase records, a grocery store site visit, analytic comparison to healthy control groups, and case–case analyses. Food safety hypothesis testing methods included food sample collection and analysis, and traceback investigations. Overall, 83 cases were identified across seven provinces, with onset dates from 6 November 2018 to 7 May 2019. Case ages ranged from 1 to 88 years; 60% (50/83) were female; 39% (22/56) were hospitalized; and three deaths were reported. Brand X profiteroles and eclairs imported from Thailand were identified as the source of the outbreak, and eggs from an unregistered facility were hypothesized as the likely cause of contamination. This study aims to describe the outbreak investigation and highlight the multiple hypothesis generation methods that were employed to identify the source.